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Royal Woods Railroad (RWRR)
The Royal Woods Railroad was a Class-1 Midwest-based railroad that ran through Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Michigan, and the farthest point in the East is the Carolinas and Georgia, and the farthest in the Midwest is Illinois and Toronto in the North. The railroad was founded in 1859 and ceased operations in 1998. 1859-1914 ' In the early summer of the year 1859, many small railroads existed among the Central and Eastern US, many of them were suffering under financial problems, they were the only motive transport in the area at the time. Billionaire Mike Harrison decided then to form the Royal Woods Rail Corporation LLC. This merged all railroads that were under financial problems, But also overlapped the PRR and the Erie Railroad. But unlike both railroads, The RWRC used major junctions in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. Mike Harrison then founded and became the president of the newly founded Royal Woods Railway (RWRR) in 1878. It was only based in the Midwest USA, until the Massive Expansion Project (1888-1901), where extensions would be seen on the East Coast, in the following states:' '-West Virginia ' '-Virginia' '-Maryland' '-North Carolina' '-South Carolina' Later on in the late 19th Century, Mike would expand his railroad to further lengths, In newer states like Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and some parts of Long Island. In 1911, the Royal Woods became the largest railway in the world, with routes going to southern Canada. There was also speculation that a train route from New York actually reached the North Pole, and when completed, it would be named the “Polar Express”, a mythic train. However, there is no concrete proof of this. Soon, many smaller locomotives began working on the railroad, mostly taking freight to the North Carolina docs to then to be transferred to England by ship. However, the railroad would experience many conflicts. World War I During the first World War, The Royal Woods was in charge of delivering war supplies to Europe and its allies. To do this, the railroad ordered new locomotives built by Baldwin and Lima respectively. One of these locomotives was Triplex with a 2-8-8-8-2 configuration. There was only one ever built for the Royal Woods, Triplex no. 6814. ' ' ''' '''In 1918, when WWI ended, The Royal Woods loco started having problems, like wheel slippage. The Royal Woods eventually had to banish the loco in some disused tunnel in Erie, PA. 'World War II' After the Great Depression, WWII began, and the United States moved into the war effort in 1941. This meant that newer locomotives needed to be purchased. Berkshires became common along the Michigan Lines, which the Royal Woods shared with the Grand Trunk Western, They also looked at ALco for building large 4-6-6-4 Challenger type locomotives (910-920) Two were special. Challenger no. 911, was the best one pulling long freight trains along the Midwest, And Royal Woods Berkshire #675 and Challenger #917 (streamlined.) were in charge of passenger service along the Royal Woods mainline, the Northeast Corridor. When the war ended, The Royal Woods then shifted their intrest into diesel power. The Age of Dieselization (1945-1961) The first ever Royal Woods diesel came on June 15th, 1945. It was a prototype F7. Soon throught the years, steam locomotives would then be sidelined from service as new diesels were being delivered. Soon in 1961, most of the steam locos on the Royal Woods were scrapped. The Turning Point (1961-1998) After steam was retired, the Royal Woods suffered losses throught the 60's. Ridership was declining in favor of the highways and airlines. and the railroad was in great jeaprody. So, in 1968, the Royal Woods decided to restore Steam loco's 675, and 911. Sadly, the only streamlined Challenger, was cut up in 1971. The Royal Woods started a steam program where many excursions were being run. Even this wasn't able to save the Royal Woods, And with nowhere left to go. The Royal woods finally decided to give in to railroads like Amtrak, Norfolk and Southern. CSX, and the LIRR in 1998.